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| Most waterfowl hunters know very little about the Boykin Spaniel,
this is written as an introduction to these wonderful little brown dogs.
These dogs were developed in the 1900's by South Carolina hunters for hunting
ducks and wild turkeys in the swamps of the Wateree River. During that
time the hunters used small boats that were just big enough for one man
and a compact retriever. The dogs that were best suited for retrieving
were of the heavyweight type and made the hunting difficult out of these
small watercraft.
A well known sportsman of the Boykin community just outside of Camden,
South Carolina, L.W. "Whit" Boykin decided to tackle the problem
of using heavyweight retrievers for this type of hunting and began a breeding
program to develop the ideal dog The Boykin is extremely popular in the dove field and in April 1984 the dog was named the state dog of South Carolina and it was declared that on September 1, 1984, the first day of dove season, as Boykin Spaniel Day. On March 26, 1985 a law was signed making it official. The Boykin was bred to be a compact dog and the size varies from 14" high at the shoulder and weighing 25 lbs. On up to 18" high at the shoulder and weighing up to 40 lbs. They are extremely good swimmers and have tons of enthusiasm and endurance. The one characteristic that I find to be most pleasing about this breed is the desire they have to please. By doing some research on retriever training and the physical and mental development of the Boykin, even the novice trainer can develop an outstanding hunting partner. The Boykin has been bred as a hunting dog and not for the show ring which makes finding a pup with the proper bloodlines an easy task. I hope that the information I've provided here has been helpful in introducing you to this breed. There are some additional resources on the Web that will give more detailed information on the Boykin Spaniel and I encourage you to check them out. |
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this work and came up with the Boykin Spaniel. The foundation dog Whit
used is said to be a small, stray spaniel type dog that was given to him
from a friend. Some other dogs that were supposedly used in his breeding
program were the American water spaniel, cocker spaniel, springer spaniel,
and the Chesapeake Bay retriever. The Boykin Spaniel is not recognized
by the AKC, instead there is a group called The Boykin Spaniel Society
that was formed in the summer of 1977 in Camden, South Carolina that handles
the registration of these dogs. The Boykin spaniel is allowed to compete
in sanctioned trials of the North American Hunting Retriever Association
(NAHRA) and the Hunting Retriever Club, Inc. (HRC). The popularity of these
dogs continues to grow and the Society has members in all 50 states as
well as a few countries around the world.